Longwang temple palace

Longwang temple palace

Longwang temple palace, also known as "Qianlong Palace", formerly known as "Chijian Anlan Longwang Temple", is located in the northeast corner of the intersection of Tongsheng street and Xinggong Road, Zaohe Town, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. Longwang temple palace covers an area of 36 mu, was built in the Qing Dynasty Shunzhi years.

Emperor Qianlong went to Jiangnan six times, stayed here five times, and built pavilions and steles, so it is also called "Qianlong Palace". The palace of Longwang temple is a northern official building complex with four courtyards, three entrances and closed courtyard, which has the characteristics of northern palace style ancient buildings in Qing Dynasty.

Since the Qing Dynasty, the 8th to 10th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is the day of the Dragon King Temple Fair in Zaohe. All the people who rush to the temple fair together pay homage to the Dragon King, which is listed as the first of 36 incense fairs in Northern Jiangsu.

The main buildings of Longwang temple are imperial stele Pavilion, bell and Drum Tower, Yidian, ancient theater tower, etc.

In 1983, the palace of the Dragon King temple was declared as a provincial cultural relic protection unit by the people's Government of Jiangsu Province;

In 2001, Longwangmiao palace was listed as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council;

In 2014, Longwang temple was selected as a world cultural heritage site;

In 2015, Longwangmiao palace was approved as a national AAAA scenic spot.

Historical evolution

The palace of the Dragon King Temple, formerly known as "the Dragon King Temple of Anlan", was built in the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (1638-1661) and rebuilt in the 23rd year of Kangxi (1684). After the restoration and expansion by the emperors of Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing, the northern palace style building complex, covering an area of 36 mu, surrounded by red walls, three courtyards and nine entrances, was formed.

From 1950 to 1956, the monks in the temple were demobilized one after another, and the Longwang temple was handed over to the housing management office of Zaohe Town People's government. During the "Cultural Revolution", the steles, stone lions and some ancient buildings of the Dragon King Temple were destroyed.

In 1982, 1988, 1992 and 1993, the provincial, municipal and county governments spent 1 million yuan to repair the Longwang hall, yubeiting, bell and Drum Tower.

In the spring of 1992, the palace of the Dragon King temple was officially opened to the public.

From 2013 to 2015, Longwangmiao palace and Zaohe ancient town built, rebuilt and expanded xiajiangnan Grand View Garden, tourist center, parking lot, Tongsheng street, road network, connotation improvement, anlanqiao, anlanqiao square and parking lot, and scenic area construction and improvement, with an investment of about 150 million yuan.

Architectural features

pattern

The center of the first entrance courtyard is the imperial stele pavilion built by Emperor Qianlong. The stele is 5 meters high in the pavilion. The front of the stele cap is engraved with the word "imperial edict". The full text of the imperial edict is engraved on the front of the stele body. The main content describes the reason and process of the construction of the temple by Emperor Kangxi and Yongzheng. On both sides of the imperial stele Pavilion, there are two floors of bells and drums, the bell tower in the East and the drum tower in the West. The shape, layout and scale of the buildings are the same, with each building of 103 square meters. To the north of yubeiting is Yidian, which is located at the intersection of the first and second Daoyuan, covering an area of 66 square meters.

The second courtyard is the center of the whole building. The main building is the "Dragon King Hall", also known as the "green tile hall". There are East and west side halls on both sides. Longwang temple is one of the main buildings of the temple, covering an area of 435 square meters. The golden statue of Donghai Longwang is worshipped in the center of the main hall. The courtyard is the main place for monks' daily Buddhist activities. Emperor Qianlong stayed in Longwang temple for five times, where he also held court business and worshipped gods and ancestors.

The third courtyard is the last one in the palace of the Dragon King Temple, which is also the Emperor Qianlong's bedroom. At the intersection of the second and third courtyard, there are Lingguan hall and east-west veranda hall on the horizontal axis. Veranda hall is a place for monks to read, write poems and study Buddhism in the temple. It is also a place for civil and military officials to deal with government affairs and entertainment when the emperor comes. It is hung above the main door of Lingguan hall“ After the emperor and his concubines entered the palace, other civil and military officials were forbidden to enter.

characteristic

The layout of Longwang temple palace is symmetrical, with clear axis. There are 15 halls in each row, and the main and secondary buildings on the central axis are clear. The whole complex is composed of six parts. The southernmost part is the ancient theater building, which is mainly used for the annual temple fair on the ninth day of the first lunar month and the emperor of Qing Dynasty's visit to the theater. To the north of the ancient theater, there is a wide square paved with green bricks. On both sides of the square, there are two sacred poles (commonly known as flagpoles) six feet high. On both sides of the sacred poles, there are corresponding "Heqing" and "Haiyan" archways. Directly above the main entrance of the mountain gate, seven gold-plated characters inscribed by Emperor Qianlong's imperial pen are inlaid in the green brick: "the imperial palace of Anlan" and "Qianlong's imperial pen seal".

Main buildings

Imperial stele Pavilion

The plane of the pavilion is hexagonal, with an area of 53 square meters. Twelve red pillars hold the roof of the yellow glazed tile roof with the double eaves and sharp roof. Because of its royal "Chi" Jian, yellow tile decoration, shape like an umbrella, people also call it "imperial umbrella". A 5-meter-high imperial stele stands in the middle of the pavilion. The front of the stele cap is engraved with the word "imperial edict". The full text of the imperial edict is engraved on the front of the stele body. The main content describes the reason and process of the construction of the temple by Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors. On the back of the stele is inscribed a poem written by the emperor when he stayed here for the first time in 1757 when he went down to the south of the Yangtze River for the second time: "the emperor visited the people's palace, the dragon temple built the Zaohe River, the storied pagoda was near the towering dam, the Junyu town was in the whirlpool, the sacrifice was sincere, the Anlan Yongyou song was sung. Pengcheng will go to read it, stay here, defend the emperor's affairs, and how to succeed in Pingcheng, the God he hoped to show, and the sand brush to collect Hongbo." On both sides of the body and cap of the stele are engraved the poems and essays written by the emperor who stayed here in 1762, 1765, 1780 and 1784. A dragon with five claws is carved on the upper edge of the cap and around the body. The whole tablet is full of Emperor Qianlong's imperial edicts and poems.

bell tower and drum tower

On both sides of the pavilion, there are two floors of bells and drums. To the East is the bell tower and to the west is the drum tower. The shape, layout and scale of the building are the same, with each building area of 103 square meters, double eaves, Xieshan, rolling shed roof, roof covered with tubular tiles.

In the bell tower, there is an octagonal iron bell made by Ma Shikui in 1813, weighing more than 2000 Jin. Each corner of the iron bell is engraved with eight diagrams, and the upper edge of the bell body is engraved with eight characters: "the country is peaceful, the people are safe, and the weather is good.".

Inside the drum tower, there is a large drum with a diameter of 1.4 meters. When Emperor Qianlong stayed in this temple, he struck the bell and beat the drum, and played music in the two chambers to welcome the emperor with the highest etiquette.

Yidian

To the north of yubeiting is Yidian. It is located at the intersection of the first and second Daoyuan of the central axis, covering an area of 66 square meters, with four rooms wide and three rooms deep. A plaque of "Fayu Ciyun" is hung at the main gate of the Yidian hall. Four King Kong statues of Yang, Liu, Du and Meng are worshipped in the hall, holding swords, umbrellas, Pipa and python respectively, symbolizing "good weather".

Ancient theater

To the north of the ancient theater, there is a wide square paved with green bricks. On both sides of the square, there are two sacred poles (commonly known as flagpoles) six feet high. On both sides of the sacred poles, there are corresponding "Heqing" and "Haiyan" archways.

Memorial Archway

On the north side of the square is the mountain gate, also known as the Zen hall. On both sides of the gate are two royal stone lions in the middle and early Qing Dynasty. Directly above the main entrance of the mountain gate, seven gold-plated characters inscribed by Emperor Qianlong's imperial pen are inlaid in the green brick: "the imperial palace of Anlan" and "Qianlong's imperial pen seal".

Second admission

The second courtyard is the central courtyard of the whole building. The main building on the royal road is "Dragon King Hall", also known as "green tile hall". The two sides of the Dragon King Hall correspond to the East and west side halls. The East Hall is dedicated to the "Five Lakes God" and the West Hall to the "Four Seas well God". All the ten statues hold wat board in their hands, and they serve the Dragon King for the second time.

The Dragon King Hall is one of the main buildings of the temple, with double eaves, Xieshan and Qing style dragon kiss. Yellow, green, blue based six color glazed tile overlay, seven wide, four deep, covering an area of 435 square meters. White stone platform and jade railings in front of the hall. There is a gold-plated plaque of "Fuyou Ronghe" hanging on the front square of the main hall, and there are treasure houses on the left and right sides of the platform, which used to burn paper. In the middle of the platform is the Dragon sacrificial platform, and there is a big iron tripod in Taichung. In the middle of the hall, the Dragon King of the East Sea is worshipped as a gilded statue. There are eight water gods on the left and right. Behind the statue of the Dragon King, there is a color mural. In the picture, there is an elephant standing on a boy, holding a basin of evergreen, which means "evergreen". All the buildings in this courtyard are the main places for monks' daily Buddhist activities. Emperor Qianlong stayed in Longwang temple for five times, where he also held official business and worshipped gods and ancestors.

The Third Hospital

The third courtyard was the last one in the palace of the Dragon King Temple, and also the palace of Emperor Qianlong. 2、 At the intersection of the three courtyards, the buildings on the horizontal axis are the spirit palace and the East and West veranda hall. The veranda is a place for monks to read, write poems and study Buddhism. It is also a place for emperors and civil and military officials to deal with government affairs and entertainment. Wang Lingguan in the east wall of the spirit palace holds seven long whip, while Wei Tuo in the west wall holds a magic pestle. Above the main gate hung a horizontal plaque of "Fu Jing Ling Bo". Emperor Qianlong drove the temple temporarily. This hall is also called "sub palace hall". After the emperor and his concubines entered the palace, all other civil and military officials were forbidden to enter.

Chinese PinYin : Long Wang Miao Hang Gong